Alberth Ellis and the Dynamo hope to celebrate again tonight. Photo by Wilf Thorne/Houston Dynamo
Every time the Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City have met in the playoffs, the winner has gone on to play in the MLS Cup Final. In this case, both teams are just focused on getting to the next round.
The Dynamo return to the MLS Cup Playoffs after a three year absence, going through three different head coaches and heavy roster turnover in that span. They enter Thursday’s match as the hottest team in the Western Conference, undefeated in their last six encounters.
Sporting KC, meanwhile, have been a poster child of consistency in the league as evidenced by their seventh consecutive playoff appearance. Their end to the regular season, however, has been anything but as they finished winless in their last five matches.
Both team’s will be without a key defensive star. Dynamo defender A.J. DeLaGarza - second in minutes played for the team this season - suffered a torn ACL on Sunday, ending his season. Sporting will be without Tim Melia - the favorite to win the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Award - who suffered a hamstring injury earlier this month.
The one game elimination in the knockout round will take place at BBVA Compass Stadium - where the Dynamo have only lost one of their 17 home games. The venue was decided just last Sunday as Houston jumped Kansas City to become the 4th seed.
A winner must be decided. Two extra time periods of 15 minutes will be contested if the match finishes tied in regulation, with team’s able to use an additional substitution in extra time. If no winner is crowned after 120 minutes, the match will be decided by penalty kicks.
Home cooking vs. traveling on short rest
Having this match in Houston is a huge win for the Dynamo. They have a 12-1-4 record at BBVA Compass Stadium this season - the only loss coming in the team’s first game after Hurricane Harvey - and have picked up 80% of their points there. Sporting KC have a 2-8-7 record on the road, are coming off playing in the altitude of Salt Lake City on Sunday and have had only a few days to focus on this match.
Scorching attack vs. league-best defense
The Dynamo are fifth in goals scored among Major League Soccer teams and feature the highest scoring offense in franchise history. The Dynamo’s core of forwards - Erick Torres, Alberth Elis, Mauro Manotas and Romell Quioto - account for 41 of the team’s 57 goals, but anyone on the team is capable of scoring. They will face off against the team that allowed the least amount of goals in 2017 in Sporting Kansas City - the question is how much of that remains without Tim Melia in goal.
Battle of the minds
This game may not be looked at for the matchup between the two strategists but it does feature two of the better minds in MLS. Wilmer Cabrera, in only his second MLS head coaching job, has revamped the Dynamo roster under one of the league's lowest payrolls in his first year as the manager. He has gotten the most out of his players by rotating the squad throughout the year, using 32 different lineups in 34 matches.
On the other end of the sideline will be Peter Vermes, one of the current frontrunners for the U.S. Men’s National Team job. Vermes is the architect at SKC, having served as the technical director since 2006 and as head coach since taking the job as interim during the 2009 season. He led the club to its second MLS Cup title in 2013 and is the only one to win one as a player and manager for a club. The team also collected silverware this year by winning the U.S. Open Cup, eliminating a mostly second-string Dynamo in the process.
When: Thursday, October 26, 2017 (8:30 p.m. CT)
Where: BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, TX
TV: KUBE 57 / UniMás (w/ SAP for English)
Where to watch online: MLSsoccer.com
Record vs SKC: 10 wins, 5 losses, 11 draws (undefeated in last eight league meetings)
Key players to watch: Erick Torres, Alberth Elis, Romell Quioto, Mauro Manotas
The Dynamo win if: The Dynamo have to come out with the right attitude. The team has left points on the table when playing overconfident at home. If they come out and take care of business with a strong mentality, they will prevail and host the Portland Timbers on Monday night.
SKC wins if: They are able to score. For as good a defense as they’ve had, SKC has struggled to find the back of the net. Two goals may be enough for KC to win this game but that’s easier said than done. At this point they have to come out swinging, they have nothing to lose.
Prediction: The Dynamo take care of a tired Kansas City and see out the win to pick up their first playoff win since 2013.
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Astros keep doing this, and it’s getting hard to ignore
Jun 25, 2025, 10:01 pm
While the rolling Astros have a week of possible World Series preview matchups against the Phillies and Cubs, it’s the Rockets who made the biggest local sports headline with their acquisition of Kevin Durant. What a move! Of course there is risk involved in trading for a guy soon to turn 37 years old and who carries an injury history, but balancing risk vs. reward is a part of the game. This is a fabulous move for the Rockets. It’s understood that there are dissenters to this view. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, including people with the wrong opinion! Let’s dig in.
The Rockets had a wonderful season in winning 52 games before their disappointing first-round playoff loss to the Warriors, but like everyone else in the Western Conference, they were nowhere close to Oklahoma City’s caliber. While they finished second in the West, the Rockets only finished four games ahead of the play-in. That letting the stew simmer with further growth among their young players would yield true championship contention was no given for 2025-26 or beyond.
Kevin Durant is one of the 10 greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen. Among his current contemporaries only Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic make that list. For instance, Durant offensively has clearly been better than the late and legendary Kobe Bryant. To view it from a Houston perspective, Durant has been an indisputably greater offensive force than the amazing Hakeem Olajuwon. But this is not a nostalgia trip in which the Rockets are trading for a guy based on what he used to be. While Durant could hit the wall at any point, living in fear that it’s about to happen is no way to live because KD, approaching his 18th NBA season, is still an elite offensive player.
As to the durability concern, Durant played more games (62) this past season than did Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith, and Tari Eason. The season before he played more games (75) than did VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Alperen Sengun. In each of the last two seasons Durant averaged more minutes per game (36.9) than any Rocket. That was stupid and/or desperate of the Suns, the Rockets will be smarter. Not that the workload eroded Durant’s production or efficiency. Over the two seasons he averaged almost 27 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor, 42 percent from behind the three-point line, and 85 percent from the free throw line. Awesomeness. The Rockets made the leap to being a very good team despite a frankly crummy half-court offense. The Rockets ranked 21st among the 30 NBA teams in three-point percentage, and dead last in free throw percentage. Amen Thompson has an array of skills and looks poised to be a unique star. Alas, Thompson has no credible jump shot. VanVleet is not a creator, Smith has limited handle. Adding Durant directly addresses the Rockets’ most glaring weakness.
The price the Rockets paid was in the big picture, minimal, unless you think Jalen Green is going to become a bonafide star. Green is still just 23 years old and spectacular athletically, but nothing he has done over four pro seasons suggests he’s on the cusp of greatness. In no season has Green even shot the league average from the floor or from three. His defense has never been as good as it should be given his athleticism. Compared to some other two-guards who made the NBA move one year removed from high school, four seasons into his career Green is waaaaaay behind where Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Devin Booker were four seasons in, and now well behind his draft classmate Cade Cunningham. Dillon Brooks was a solid pro in two seasons here and shot a career-best from three in 2024-2025, but he’s being replaced by Kevin Durant! In terms of the draft pick capital sent to Phoenix, five second round picks are essentially meaningless. The Rockets have multiple extra first round picks in the coming years. As for the sole first-rounder dealt away, whichever player the Rockets would have taken 10th Wednesday night would have been rather unlikely to crack the playing rotation.
VanVleet signs extension
Re-signing Fred VanVleet to a two-year, 50 million dollar guarantee is sensible. In a vacuum, VanVleet was substantially overpaid at the over 40 mil he made per season the last two. He’s a middle-of-the-pack starting point guard. But his professionalism and headiness brought major value to the Rockets’ kiddie corps while their payroll was otherwise very low. Ideally, Reed Sheppard makes a leap to look like an NBA lead guard in his second season, after a pretty much zippo of a rookie campaign. Sheppard is supposed to be a lights-out shooter. For the Rockets to max out, they need two sharpshooters on the court to balance Thompson’s presence.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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